Gala Casino Review:

Gala Casino, established in 2008, is a member of the GVC Group, traded on the London Stock Exchange. As a veteran casino, backed by a gambling powerhouse, it offers a safe, secure, and highly reliable online gaming experience. While the layout of the casino isn’t particularly original, it is intuitive, with games mapped out as a grid. This makes it easy to find what you’re looking for, and do what you came to do – that is play online casino games. As for the games themselves, they are an excellent combination of different genres, from slots to roulette and even a really nice selection of instant scratch games. True, the promotions aren’t necessarily massive, but they certainly cover the basics. And the overall effect is that you’re in solid hands.

There is a lot of value in being an online casino that has stood the test of time. It shows that the casino is good at creating enduring entertainment value, but also that it has kept up with safety measures and been able to build players’ trust.

At Gala Casino, this has been done in several ways. For example, there is the official accreditation by significant gambling regulatory bodies, in this case the British Gambling Commission which has granted it an operating license for those wishing to gamble legally within the UK. For those in other countries, the casino is covered in full with licensing granted by the Government of Gibraltar, which in turn is regulated by the Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner.

Gala Casino also has other strict safety and security measures in place, including a clearly marked link to the Independent Betting Adjudication Service (IBAS), a body which resolves disputes between gaming operators and their customers. Plus, it’s got GameCare certification, and links to organisations that help identify and treat problem gambling/addiction.

The safety and trust also extend to the realm of banking. First of all, there is an extended section detailing all you need to know about payments on the casino’s website. Just click to the ‘About’ section, then choose ‘Payments’ in the left navigation to get there, and you can read all the details yourself. These cover things like how and why the casino stores your credit card details (you need to opt in to make this possible). You can also read about how 128-bit Secure Socket Layout (SSL) encryption software is used to ensure secure communications during any transaction, as well as advanced encrypted algorithms. Other initiatives employed include The 3-D Secure™ protocol, Verified by Visa, and MasterCard SecureCode to name but a few.

Furthermore, all games use a Random Number Generator (RNG) and the Return to Player (RTP) for each game can be easily accessed in the information section of the specific game.

As a popular gambling spot, Gala Casino has made it as easy as possible to process payments with all the options you would expect, with perhaps NETELLER most conspicuously missing. Most of the deposit methods are instant, except notably direct wire and PayPal, which need confirmation before you can proceed.

Withdrawals generally take a little longer, but the timeframe is well within the online casino norms, which are as quick as within 24 hours (for Skrill) and up to 5 business days (with Visa).

One of the biggest draws of any online casino in today’s competitive market is the welcome bonus. To this end, it’s important to note that the welcome bonus at Gala Casino is actually quite modest by comparison to others.

What you get here is a £40 bonus plus 20 free spins when you make an initial deposit of £20. The catch is, you need to spend your initial deposit funds on slots in order to qualify. And the bonus money you receive needs to be played on slots as well, though which titles you play this bonus money on is up to you. The free spins, however, are a little more limited and can only be played on three pre-determined games.

Again, keep in mind that you have to stake your initial £20 first, and only then will you qualify for the welcome offer (keep your eyes open for the popup message that will appear when you get there). Also remember, there is a 35X wagering requirement, for which only slots qualify. In other words, it’s not the most attractive welcome offer on the market, but there’s something believable in the small sum.

The main draw of any online casino is of course its casino games, which in this case are varied in terms of style and themes.

While in the past, Gala Casino was known as a Playtech powered casino – and still features its games heavily – it has since added games from other developers as well, including the exceptionally exciting Megaways™ slots series from Big Time Gaming as well as the Slingo scratch card games.

As mentioned before, the casino layout, especially if you’re playing directly from the website, is super intuitive. Categories listed include standard fare like ‘Slots’, ‘Jackpot Slots’ (with almost 50 options), and ‘Table & Cards’ games. But there are also some real interest builders like ‘Live Casino’, ‘Featured’ and ‘Top Games’ categories. In addition, there is a section called ‘New & Exclusive’, which gives you access to titles you currently won’t find anywhere else like Hoard of Poseidon, Mighty Atlantis, and Ice Phoenix.

Overall, there are hundreds of online casino games to choose from, which means near endless entertainment value, for whatever your mood or tastes. And there are new games being added regularly, usually at a rate of a couple each month.

By the way, while instant play is our preference, direct from the website – meaning you can just login from any browser and play – you can also download the Gala Casino software if you prefer.

For those looking to play on the go, Gala Casino also offers a mobile app. If you’re using an Apple device, either iPhone or iPad, you can download the Gala Casino app from the App Store, free of charge. If you’re an Android person, you can similarly download the Gala Casino mobile app for free, direct from Google Play.

The main advantage of downloading the app is ease of access. That is, you will then have a Gala Casino icon on your mobile screen, which you can just tap to enter the casino, instead of entering the casino’s URL. The experience you then have is the same as you have for other activities you need or enjoy on a regular basis like Gmail, Facebook, or Instagram. That is really the main difference. Other than that, the mobile casino app experience is the same. Same great game selection, ease of use, banking options, and promotions. Convenience here is key.

In addition to the welcome bonus, there are a handful of promotions regularly featured at Gala Casino. While they may change from the time of writing, they do give you an idea of what to expect.

For example, there is something called Daily Drops in which you can win up to £1,000 on wagers as low as 50p. What’s nice here is that there is no strategy involved. Basically, if you opt in to the promotion from the pop-up message when playing select slots (the casino provides the full list of those eligible on its promotions page), this bonus is randomly triggered.

For those who enjoy live casino games, there are often special promos there as well. For example, one recent promo – Live Casino Sizzling Surprises – featured a shared prize purse of £5,000, every single day for more than two months. Once again, it was limited to certain games, in this case Summer Spin a Win and Summer Roulette, since it was a seasonal promotion, and required a minimum £1 wager. So just make sure to pay attention to the details, to make sure your wagers count. As for claiming bonus prizes and wagering conditions, you always need to read through the T&C as they differ between promotions. But in this case we can tell you they were fantastic, as this promotion featured a cash prize, which means no wagering requirement, and fully withdrawable cash.

Gala Casino also has a multi-tiered rewards program, aptly called Gala Rewards. Each level of course rewards you with more and more benefits in return for your increased loyalty. The levels go from Spades, to Clubs, to Hearts, Diamonds and Aces. At the Spades level, you already receive 24/7 priority service, as well as a weekly £10 Weekend Recharge bonus on a minimum £20 deposit. At the Clubs level you start collecting valuable Comp Points. And when you make your way up to Aces you can expect additional goodies like a 20% Weekly Cashback bonus up to £5K, a Weekend Recharge Bonus of up to £200 on a £200 deposit, and what are called priority withdrawals, amongst other things.